Christian Sarlo and Chase McLane scored the only third-period goals as Penn State edged the No. 7 Gophers 5-3 on Friday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci.
Penn State takes down No. 7 Gophers men's hockey
The Gophers lost the opening game of a series at home for the fourth time this season.
November 20, 2021 at 5:35AM
"That was a disappointing loss," Gophers coach Bob Motzko said. "We handed a game away, and we've seen that now three Fridays in a row."
Jaxon Nelson, a junior forward, scored two power-play goals for Minnesota (7-6, 4-3 Big Ten) in a game with several lead changes.
The Nittany Lions' Ryan Kirwan scored first in the opening period, but the Gophers tied it on Matthew Knies' goal with 32 seconds left in the first.
Nelson put the Gophers ahead 2-1 in the second, but Connor MacEachern and Ben Copeland restored Penn State's lead at 3-2 by the middle of the period. Nelson's second goal with 1:02 in the middle period tied it at 3-all.
Oskar Autio made 32 saves for Penn State (7-5, 1-5), Jack LaFontaine 16 for the Gophers.
This was the sixth loss for Minnesota in the opening game of a series — and four of them have come at home.
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The Gophers trailed by 15 in the first quarter and never made up that difference, falling 82-69.
